How to Breathe and Other Useful Skills
by freckleon
Summary: That time when Ziggy was hit by the stupidest attack bot yet, got up close and personal with members of the team, and moved in with Dillon.
1. Chapter 1

**How to Breathe (and Other Useful Skills)**

_**Disclaimer:** Hi. I don't own the Power Rangers RPM._

_Right. So. Basically, nothing happens in this. There will be several chapters, but they will be filled with little to no suspense, just a hellova lot of hurt/comfort, flirting, team bonding, and sleeping. Oh, will there be sleeping. Anyway, the story isn't explicitly slashy, per say, but it ismeant to be leaning in that direction, so here's your warning if you can't abide slash at all. I'll give another disclaimer if/when it does evolve from hinting to reality._

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It starts after a rather anticlimactic battle with the latest Venjex attack-bot. The power rangers are heading back to their cars, victorious as usual, when Ziggy starts to feel a bit light-headed. He's lagging behind the group, having been the unfortunate victim of the bot's failed attempt at using its main weapon. The offender had looked a bit like a mix between an elephant and a trash can and had used its long, nose-like contraption to shoot a powerful, but ultimately harmless, gust of air at Ziggy. Losing his untied shoe from the sudden burst had been the only setback and the rest of the rangers had managed to overpower the attack-bot and destroy it before it even had a chance to upgrade. Heck, Ziggy hadn't even morphed.

Having finally located his wayward shoe in the aftermath, Ziggy begins jogging back to join the group when the dizziness hits. He stumbles a bit and stops moving to take a few deep breaths, trying to clear his head. The tightness in his chest is growing when he hears footsteps approaching.

"Ziggy? You alright?" says Summer, placing a soothing hand on his back as he gasps for breath.

Body loosening perceptibly, Ziggy lets out a sigh. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine, must be the heat. Only a momentary glitch," he tells her, and it's true. He's starting to feel a bit better already, head clearing and breaths evening out.

Summer watches him closely as they rejoin the team, but soon seems satisfied that he isn't going to pass out and hops on her motorcycle shouting, "Race ya!" to Flynn.

Dillon gives him a questioning look, one that he's perfected in a way that lets him convey worry for another person while still maintaining an air of nonchalance. How he does it, Ziggy would kill to know.

"What? A guy can't suffer a little heat stroke in peace?" he jokes and Dillon drops the subject, sinking into his car and waiting patiently for Ziggy to do the same.

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Back at the garage, the group splits up. Gem and Gemma shoot straight for K's lab, babbling about rotors and chutes and vacuum spaces. Ziggy gives up following the conversation, instead heeding the magnetic call of the refrigerator. Maybe after he gets some food in his system (that isn't the can of soda and bag of chips he had for breakfast), he'll be up to joining the others in the gym. Well, up to watching while they spar. The Green Ranger isn't really into the whole "expanding energy unnecessarily", if he can get away with it.

Ziggy still feels a bit unsettled by the occurrence earlier. It had been strange, like he was suddenly lacking in something he desperately needed. It had disappeared quickly enough, though, and he'd felt fine during the ride home so he puts it out of his mind.

Flynn sees his intent and veers abruptly on his way to the exercise room, ignoring Scott's disapproval. "I'll be there in a mo'," he announces, waving a hand dismissively. Ziggy can see Dillon grinning behind the Blue Ranger and changing his direction as well, no doubt in an attempt to get under Scott's skin.

Making a _tsk-_ing noise, Ziggy feigns superiority as he tells them, "Well I never! _I _wouldn't _dream_ of skiving off on a workout just to satisfy my stomach." He's getting mustard on his fingers as he says it, the bottle overflowing and oozing out as he twists it closed. "Pass the ham, would you?"

Sidling up with the requested meat, Dillon bumps their hips companionably and then again a bit rougher just to see Ziggy squawk. "K wants me to check the Southeast border today if there aren't any more emergencies; said some workers have been complaining about potential threats in the wall stability. Want to come?"

There are few things Ziggy likes more than a three-cheese, double-decker, ham-salami-mustard sandwich. Cruising with Dillon in his beloved car makes that short list by a wide margin. "Only if I get to pick the music."

"In your dreams, Green."

Ziggy sighs dramatically, still perfecting his creation. "I suppose I can make an exception. This time." He collects a smear of mustard from the plate and sucks on it while turning to give Dillon an assessing look. "You're lucky my schedule is free," he tells him, garbling the words around his finger.

There's an odd pause in the banter during which Ziggy waits expectantly for a comeback and Dillon only stares at him with bizarre intent. Ziggy raises his eyebrows at the Ranger, removing the digit from his mouth with a pop to wave at him. Blinking rapidly a few times, Dillon finally says, "You're lucky my passenger seat doesn't have an eject button."

"You're lucky I have a soft spot for brooding robots."

"You're lucky I like having you around enough that I can overlook your absurd penchant for mustard."

"And I'm lucky you're both so in love that no one notices when I finish off the apple juice," chimes Flynn loudly, expression caught somewhere between exasperation and amusement. He's lounging against the sink, almost empty juice jug in one hand.

"Hey!" exclaims Ziggy, lunging for the last gulp. Apple juice is like coffee in the Ranger garage. All of them drink it, even Dr. K. Speaking of… "K's going to be livid when she finds out," the Green Ranger tells Flynn as he grapples futilely for the bottle.

"Good point," responds Flynn. He downs the last of the juice to the sound of Ziggy whining and tosses the jug in the recycling bin. "Which is why I'm not going to be here when she finds out." Saluting Dillon, he adds, "I'll let Scott know you'll be joining us when you finish making out with your boyfriend!"

Flynn trots away chuckling after dodging a half-hearted swipe from Dillon. The Black Ranger makes a rude gesture at his back causing Ziggy to stifle a laugh of his own. "With all the making out he alleges we get up to, it is all the more depressing that I haven't locked lips with _anyone_ since joining this team."

Snorting, Dillon says, "And who would you kiss? K?"

"She'd likely relieve me of the burden of possessing testicles if I tried." He turns thoughtful. "Though I might have taken a shot with your sister if she hadn't turned out to be certifiably evil."

"I'd be obligated to kick your ass then."

"Try me, tough guy. I've got moves so awesome they'll make you weep."

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By the time he and Ziggy finish an absurd conversation about the difference between ninja moves and karate, Dillon has already missed most of the workout Scott had planned. He shows up for the last bit, getting some stretching in and a few reps on the free weights. Scott gives him a look when he arrives, but Dillon just shrugs. "What? I was busy."

"Mmhmm," responds the Red Ranger skeptically.

Dillon rolls his eyes. "When did this 'after battle exercise routine' become mandatory again?"

"Oh, it's not," Scott and Flynn are both smirking hugely, though Scott is doing his best to keep a straight face. "If you and Ziggy needed some quality alone time, all you had to do was say so."

Sometimes Dillon hates his friends. Though possibly he should stop encouraging them. He's been getting a few grumpy looks from Summer as of late (another thing he should really deal with soon) every time Blue or Red crack a joke about he and Ziggy, but egging them on has never seemed to bother Ziggy and it's just _so much fun_.

"In that case," he tells them while lying on his back to stretch his legs, "You should probably be warned that the kitchen counters are going to need a good scrub down before they'll be sanitary enough for food again."

He considers adding a leer to this statement, but he's pretty sure he got the point across well enough because Flynn is exclaiming, "_Oh_, mate, I did not need that mental image," and Scott is rolling his eyes and exiting the gym.

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After a few rounds of sparring, Flynn calls it quits and Dillon accepts, though he hasn't even broken a sweat yet. He waits for Flynn to grab his towel and they exit the training room together. The main part of the garage is strangely peaceful and Dillon mentally catalogues where the other team members are—lab doors closed, clanking noises coming from within, indicates that K, Gem, and Gemma are tinkering with some new device; the sound of a shower running is probably Scott; Summer is on a weekly phone call to her folks; and Ziggy… Dillon feels instantly unsettled. Ziggy should have been the first person he noticed. The Green Ranger isn't prone to things like 'alone time' or 'peace and quiet'. If everyone else was busy, Ziggy should have shown up at the gym, badgering Flynn and Dillon as they sparred. However, there had been no sign of the ranger. Dillon tries to shake off the weird feeling that something is amiss.

His instincts prove correct as he and Flynn turn into the small kitchen area. Ziggy is slumped against the refrigerator, clutching his chest and breathing hard.

"What's wrong?" he asks, immediately at the Ranger's side. Ziggy shakes his head weakly and then, alarmingly, his eyes roll back and Dillon has to reach out to catch him as Ziggy tips forward, a dead weight in his arms.

"I'll get the doc," says Flynn, panicked. Dillon works to hold his own dread at bay as he scoops up the Green Ranger and carries him towards the lab.


	2. Chapter 2

It's cold on the medical bed when Ziggy comes to. He doesn't bother opening his eyes, knowing they will only be met with the blinding lights of K's lab. Fuzzy from sleep, Ziggy slowly becomes aware of voices speaking in hushed tones nearby.

"It must be some new plot of Venjex. He's losing energy at a remarkable rate."

"The latest attack-bot. Ziggy was hit by a blast, but we thought it had been a malfunction. Nothing seemed amiss."

K and Scott. They sound worried.

"Fortunately, I seem to have pinpointed a temporary solution. Series Green is only severely weakened when he is not in close proximity with another ranger. Something about your specific energy readings helps return him to more regular levels. As long as he remains nearby one of you at all times, he shouldn't be in any mortal danger until I can find a way to reverse the effects of the attack-bot."

"Not a problem," pipes Summer. Is the whole team here? "Ziggy will just have to get used to the company."

Ziggy groans aloud, but mostly just to get their attention. He doesn't mind company; it's being alone he's never warmed up to.

"How're you feeling Zig?" asks a gruff voice from very nearby and Ziggy blinks blearily to see Dillon looking down at him from the chair he has pulled up next to the bed.

"Okay, I think. What is this I hear about energy-zapping attack-bots?"

K explains her findings all over again and Scott clarifies with less scientific jargon when Ziggy just stares at her blankly. It seems that although being around the other rangers seems to keep him from passing out, he is still being slowly sapped of his energy. K warns him that he likely won't be able to do even moderately strenuous activities for any length of time and he'll be sleeping more often. Another mouthful of gibberish, decoded this time by Flynn, reveals that K believes the proximity Ziggy must be from another ranger to keep breathing normally is somewhere between ten and fifteen feet.

"What about my bedroom? I'm closer than fifteen feet to Dillon through the wall." Uncertainty mars K's expression and Ziggy can tell how much she dislikes not understanding the situation fully.

"I'm not sure. It could be fine, but you might want to consider buying a sleeping bag."

No way. If Ziggy is going to have to be watched all day; he'd rather sleep in his own room. He says as much. Then, because everyone must be thinking it, Ziggy asks, "What are we going to do during battles?"

Ziggy already feels like a burden. Seeing the tense, unhappy look on Scott's face doesn't make it any better.

"We can spare two rangers for a while, right?" says Flynn, optimistically. "We got by alright with just three before you four showed up." He waves an arm to indicate Dillon, Ziggy, Gem, and Gemma.

Scott still seems wary, but he says, "Flynn's right. Ziggy you will stay here with one other ranger if there is an attack."

Ziggy wants to argue. He feels fine now, just heavy from sleep. He can still fight. But he remembers what it felt like before he passed out. The dizziness, the disorientation… he'd only be in the way on the battlefield if someone had to try and be at his side at all times. He can sense that they're about to start the awkward business of creating some sort of rotation for who has to babysit him when Dillon says, "I'll stay."

Seven pairs of eyes, each at some variation of shock, turn to stare at the black ranger. Ziggy tries desperately to keep from sounding too hopeful when he says, skeptically, "You will?"

"Sure. That way the rest of you can still access your Zords."

Ziggy deflates a little, but of course that makes sense—

"Plus, we're partners right?" continues Dillon, nudging Ziggy lightly and Ziggy lights up so fast he knows even K must have noticed. "Just know that I'm not going to spend all day listening to that noise you like to call music."

"Hey! I'll have you know I have impeccable taste in music. It's not my fault you can't appreciate the finer things in life."

"My music _is _the 'finer things in life'. And we'll be listening to it every day this week until you learn that." Dillon grins smugly at him.

"Oh no. No no no no no." Ziggy turns to the other rangers pleadingly. "You guys can't do this to me. Someone, anyone else, but Dillon. I'll be dead before K can ever find a cure."

The other rangers look amused, proving entirely unhelpful. Summer says curiously, "What kind of music do you listen to Dillon?"

Ziggy shudders dramatically and answers for him. "The half-machine, car loving, meathead over here will only listen to CLASSICAL music." He shakes his head sadly. "It boggles the mind, really."

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When the other rangers finally file out and K clears Ziggy to leave, Dillon escorts him out of the lab, still teasing about Ziggy's soft spot for metal bands. Ziggy returns the jabs in kind, but his mind is still looping back to when Dillon had said, "I'll stay," like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Ziggy likes the rest of the team, he really does. Gem and Gemma always laugh at his jokes and take his every plot to make money seriously. Trying to pull K out of her shell is one of Ziggy's favorite pastimes. Scott is surprisingly patient when showing him new fighting techniques, Summer makes a point to pull him aside every so often and ask him how he's doing, and he and Flynn having remarkably similar food and film tastes, making for entertaining movie nights. However, Ziggy is, and will probably always be, most at ease around Dillon. He's not sure how it happened, but Dillon is without a doubt the best friend he's ever had and, even more shocking, the opposite seems to be just as true. So while Ziggy wouldn't mind hanging around any of the other rangers, Dillon is definitely his first pick, and he gets the feeling that the black ranger knew this and acted accordingly. It's… comforting.

They've stopped walking while Ziggy was absorbed in his thoughts and Dillon is now staring at him, part curious, part worry. "Going to swoon on us again so soon?"

"I did not swoon! I blacked out. Manfully." Dillon gives him a doubtful look. "No, really. I'll probably get an award and everything for how stoically I handled it."

"Stoic. Right."

"Listen mister. I'm a very sick individual and you should treat me with a little less sarcasm and a bit more chivalry."

Dillon is silent a moment and Ziggy mentally celebrates what looks to be a victory when suddenly Dillon ducks down and swoops Ziggy's legs out from under him. Squawking, Ziggy flails madly as Dillon somehow manages to situate him in his arms bridal style and start walking casually up the stairs.

"I—what—put me down!" Dillon ignores him. "Just what do you think you're doing?"

"Being a gentleman. Isn't that what you wanted?"

A snort comes from the living room and Flynn sing-songs, "You two have fun on your honeymoon!"

Crossing his arms, Ziggy glares at Dillon's chest. He has changed his mind: Dillon is the _last _person he wants to spend all his time around.

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_Short update. I do what I want, Thor._


	3. Chapter 3

The first few days are a bit of an adjustment as the Rangers awkwardly try to deal with Ziggy's strange ailment. The Green Ranger is used to sticking close to others anyways, so he isn't expecting it to be much of an issue.

Due to her unflinching 'mother hen' instincts, however, Summer is very proactive about the situation from the get-go. She glues herself to his side almost immediately, dragging him along for her daily workout and patrols. They spend an afternoon watching the local high school baseball team scrimmage and have a deliriously good time cooking up memorable nicknames for each player. The coach finally kicks them out when he gets tired of hearing Summer and Ziggy scream, "Blind Nine strikes again," when a less than talented outfielder missed an easy catch by a mile or, "Here comes Zero, the no-hit hero!" when the weakest batter stepped up to the plate.

Nevertheless, Ziggy has an excellent time.

"Poor kids," laughs Ziggy as they head back to the garage. The sun is especially hot that afternoon, which is probably why Ziggy is feeling a bit worn out. "Maybe we were a bit harsh."

"Everyone's a twat in high school." Summer shrugs casually, shooting him an evil grin. "I was. They need some tough love."

Sometimes, Ziggy loves Summer Landsdown.

By the end of the second Summer-filled day, however, Ziggy is approaching desperate for some time apart from the well-meaning ranger. So far the other team members have viewed this Ziggy-Summer bonding time with amusement, though Ziggy often noticed Dillon lurking around while the two of them played pool or discussed the many fine qualities possessed by the enigmatic James Marsden, a mutual favorite of theirs. It's almost like the man was checking in on the Green Ranger, though the idea seems a bit dubious to Ziggy.

Still, he's deeply relieved to find the Black Ranger nearby once again as he and Summer return from a grocery run. Ziggy plunks his bags down on the kitchen counter, stupidly out of breath, and edges in Dillon's direction immediately.

"Ziggy, want to come with while I check in on border patrol?" asks Summer breezily as she finds space for her own bags on the island.

"Ah, actually," says Ziggy, pasting on a smile, "I promised Dillon here that I would be his wingman this evening."

The only person more skeptical than Summer about this obvious lie is Dillon himself. Before he can be outright rebuked, Ziggy gets up close to other man and pleads with his eyes, announcing rather insistently, "Isn't that right, Dillon?" Under his breath, he adds, "C'mon, I'm begging. Help a brother out."

Dillon smirks at Ziggy for a moment, but eventually he says, "Yeah, Summer. Having this scrawny git around really helps me stand out with the ladies."

Hunting for 'ladies' isn't exactly a pastime of any of the Rangers', but Summer seems to get the hint and lets it slide, rolling her eyes and waving the two of them off while shouting for Scott to 'get your butt in here! It's your turn to put away the groceries!'

"Thank you," Ziggy tells him when they've made it out of her sight, resting his forehead gratefully against Dillon's shoulder for a second. "I feel like I have the color yellow plastered to my eyeballs."

"She means well."

"Yes, and I love her to death, but can we please do something unproductive for like ten minutes? I don't think Summer quite grasps the concept of being 'idle'."

Taking pity on him, Dillon nudges the Green Ranger over to the sofa and turns on some 'Whose Line' reruns until Ziggy feels adequately lethargic.

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After that, Summer backs off a bit and Ziggy floats between the Rangers like any regular day, amusing and irritating each of them as best he can. Exhaustion hits earlier and earlier in the evening, but it's still possible to get through the night in his own room, even if he finds himself coughing more and more often, jolting him from his slumber. He feels strangely weary even as he rests. It's not unbearable, though, so Ziggy keeps it to himself. Otherwise, things are fairly normal.

Or, you know, as normal as things can be when you're a Power Ranger suffering from some sort of energy drain caused by a giant metal trash can.

Yeah.

The first incident comes when Ziggy is lounging with Gem and Gemma in a spare back room. The twins are fiddling with a bizarre contraption for K and reliving some of the more exciting fights they had while living outside Corinth for Ziggy's amusement. It's during a particularly boring part in which the twins are going into great detail about how they were able to continue using their Zords even though the mainframe had been damaged by an attack (using gibberish mechanic language that Ziggy has yet to pick up on), that Gem perks up suddenly, shouting, "That's it!"

"What's it?" asks Ziggy, around a yawn.

"The rotor, for the aerial control—"

Gemma catches on, though Ziggy is still completely in the dark, and exclaims, "Of course! It's underneath the flanking panel—"

"So when we—"

"And they were—"

"We have to tell K!"

Then they're off, without so much as a by your leave. Ziggy rolls his eyes, not exactly upset to see them go. He was bound to fall asleep if he'd had to listen to that jargon any longer. Settling further into his chair, Ziggy closes his eyes and enjoys the momentary quiet. He'll be fed up of it soon enough, but it is nice to have some solitude. It doesn't even occur to him that there's an issue until a few minutes later when he starts coughing.

Sitting upright abruptly, Ziggy recalls his current state of dependence just before his vision starts swimming. He considers calling for help, but feels ridiculous. He doesn't want to be so… so… needy. He can handle this, he'll just move closer to the living room where another ranger is bound to be nearby. No problem.

By the time he makes it out of the room and into the hallway, his chest has constricted considerably and he hugs the wall as he limps rather pathetically towards the stairs, wheezing loudly as he does. It hits him suddenly, the fact that he's in real danger here. What if he passes out and the rangers take too long to come looking for him? What if there's an attack and they leave the garage? What if…

He has stopped moving, he realizes through a haze. There's thin carpet beneath his knees and he's gasping for breath while staring at the completely idiotic pattern the flooring has when someone shouts, "Ziggy!" and grabs him by the shoulders.

He doesn't get his breath back immediately like he did while they tested his limit in K's office, the rangers backing off a set distance until they got a reaction from Ziggy. Once they'd determined the distance they could be before Ziggy would start feeling weak and out of breath, the rangers had tumbled forward in a rush and Ziggy had felt instant relief.

Instead, he keeps sucking in desperate gulps of air that don't satisfy his lungs by half, feeling shaky and drowsy and half-removed. The person who found him drops down to their knees as well, still saying his name. It's Dillon, Ziggy confirms through the haze and he wants to make a joke about knights in shining leather if he only had the breath. If he didn't know better, Ziggy might think Dillon was panicking by the way the other man was grasping at Ziggy, dragging the Green Ranger closer and trying to make him focus.

It takes a few more minutes, but Ziggy does finally start to feel an improvement, inhales filling his chest at last. Coughing and dizziness subsiding, Ziggy finds himself panting against Dillon's shoulder, hands clamped securely in the folds of his jacket.

"That was unpleasant," he mumbles almost into the other Ranger's throat and Dillon huffs a laugh that sounds less controlled than Ziggy was expecting.

They hold like that for another minute or so while Ziggy gathers his bearings, until the younger man pushes away with a "that's enough PDA for now, I think." When he gets a good look at his savior, he's expecting an eye-roll for his trouble.

Instead, Dillon looks murderous. "Why weren't you with anyone?"

"I was," Ziggy answers, taken aback by the anger in his voice. The truth slips out before he can think to change his story. "But the twins had to tell K something and I—I forgot."

There's a gleam in Dillon's eye that spells imminent danger to two very unlucky Rangers in the near future and Ziggy realizes his error. His protests are ignored, however, as Dillon grabs his arm and tows him out into the living room, where they unfortunately find Gem and Gemma just exiting Dr. K's lab.

"You two," barks Dillon, pointing a finger at them. "Care to explain why I just found our Green Ranger here—" he shakes Ziggy for emphasis "—struggling for breath without another Ranger in sight?"

Gem and Gemma are speechless in the face of Dillon's ire and Ziggy feels instantly sorry for them. The Black Ranger knows how to be truly terrifying when he wants to be.

"Dillon, I'm fine, I'm okay," Ziggy tells him, trying for soothing.

"You have no sense of self preservation!"

Ziggy stares at him, incredulous. "_I _have no sense of self preservation? What are you talking about? Preserving myself is like the only thing I'm good at!"

Dillon is pacing now, finally finished shaking Ziggy. Off to the side, Gem and Gemma are looking contrite.

"We didn't mean to get Ziggy tired," says Gemma in a small voice. "We were just so excited about showing our results to Dr. K—"

"—that we forgot to make sure Ziggy was with us," Gem finishes. Dillon glares at them.

Waving a forgiving hand in their direction, Ziggy says, "Hey, no harm done guys. Seriously." He turns around to put a firm palm on Dillon's chest and says in a lower voice, "Seriously. So you can back off robo-man. You're scaring the kids."

Dillon's glare reverts back to Ziggy, completely ignoring the attempt at a joke. "They should be scared. We have to watch out for you."

"I'm not an invalid, Dillon. I just lost my breath."

Approaching footsteps alert them to the arrival of the rest of the Rangers, coming from the direction of the basketball court. Rounding on them, Dillon shouts, "Will one of you please tell him—" jabbing a finger at Ziggy "—to stop acting like such an idiot?"

Ziggy rolls his eyes. "Yes, and when we're done with that crucial and absolutely necessary conversation, feel free to inform Dillon of what an overbearing, irrational dickhead he's currently being."

Seemingly despite herself, Summer lets out a cross between a gasp and snort and immediately brings hands up to her mouth to quash the sound. Ziggy wants to beam at managing to elicit such a response from the Yellow Ranger, but he's a bit preoccupied. Slouching in a seemingly relaxed pose, arms crossed and eyebrows raised, Ziggy meets Dillon's angry gaze. In front of him, Dillon is clenching and unclenching his fists reflexively, jaw locked. Gemma fills the others in on what happened briefly, apologizing as she does, while the Black and Green Ranger stand at an impasse, neither willing to budge.

Silence reigns in the garage for a tense second before Scott seems to decide he needs to step in. "Okay, listen. Obviously, as a team, we need to make a better effort to watch out for Ziggy while he's—" Scott searches for an appropriate descriptions, "—afflicted. But we're also not going to start blaming each other."

Dillon's shoulders droop perceptibly and he looks almost chagrined. Before Ziggy can get too smug, Scott continues with, "And _Ziggy_ should have alerted one of us the second Gem and Gemma ran off."

"I thought I'd be fine for a couple minutes—" Ziggy protests immediately, but Scott raises a hand to cut him off.

"No more of that. I'm not trying to be harsh, but Dillon is right about one thing. You may not have a problem with self-preservation, but sometimes you have difficulty letting people _help_ you. We're your family, Ziggy. It may be annoying, but we're going to smother you with attention if that's what it takes to keep you safe."

There's a strange feeling tugging at Ziggy's chest and he finds himself staring at Scott in astonishment, throat dry. Apparently done with his speech, Scott clasps his shoulder amiably before turning to Dillon. "Can you come to the lab? K said she has a few more questions about our scouting earlier."

Dillon nods his assent, but glances back at Ziggy before following. "Zig—"

"Yeah, yeah," sighs Ziggy, quirking a grin at him. "Me too."

Dillon returns the expression while shaking his head slightly and follows Scott out of the room.

Smile still in place, Ziggy swivels to find Summer and Flynn watching him closing. Flynn is smirking minutely, but the Yellow Ranger looks a bit stunned.

"What?"

Instead of answering him, Flynn turns to Summer and says, "You see? _That_ is the kinda thing I'm talking about."

Turning a bit pink, Summer opens her mouth a few times before settling on, "I'm going to go… elsewhere." With that, she heads towards her room, still looking a bit dazed.

"What's up with her?" asks Ziggy on the tail end of a yawn. "Are you filling her head with your sordid Scottish tales again?"

"Not quite," replies Flynn, smirk broadening. Ziggy needles a bit more, but gives up with a shrug when the Blue Ranger refuses to elaborate. They roll out the Nintendo and play a few one-sided rounds of Smash Bros. (Ziggy wishing growing up in a Cartel left more time for playing video games) before Dillon and Scott are back and the three of them join forces to eliminate Flynn's character.

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_Oh god, guys. The flirting that's coming up. And team bonding. Well, more than there already has been. You guys, there is so much. It appears that's all I really want to write. Plot? What is this strange thing you speak of?_

_Can I just have the R.P.M rangers for my own, please? And a James Marsden, if it's not too much trouble. Those dimples kill me._


	4. Chapter 4

The next day marks the first attack on the city since Ziggy was first put out of commission. He and Summer are duking it out on the pool table (more precisely, Summer is going easy on him while providing pointers on his form) while Dillon heckles Ziggy from the sidelines. When Scott shouts "Rangers assemble!" at the first alert signal, Ziggy drops the game and jumps to attention without thinking. A firm hand on his shoulder stops him from heading towards the vehicles.

"Whoa there cowboy," says Dillon. "We're sticking this one out, remember?"

"Oh, right," says Ziggy, surprised at his own disappointment. "I'm 'afflicted'."

"We're not going to spend this whole time having a pity party, are we? Because I might just decide to let you faint."

Ziggy scoffs at him. "After the fuss you made last time? I think not. Face it, Black. You can't stand to see me suffer."

"Correction: I can't stand to hear you complain."

"Oh that's cute. Which is worse, then? My complaining now, or the lecture you'll get later from Scott if you fail in your 'babysitting Ziggy' duties?"

"Don't know. Guess I'll have to take my chances."

"Shut up and finish this pool game with me."

.

The pool game doesn't last long, though, because both Dillon and Ziggy are kind of desperate to know how the fight is going. They eventually drop their cues and crowd into K's lab. She cuts them both a glare, but doesn't shoo them out. Video cameras showing the grinder battle from several different angles are playing on the screens around the lab. Currently K is typing at her keyboard and telling Scott where the next bot wave is coming from.

"This sucks," says Ziggy, watching Dillon's grip tighten on K's desk as Summer dodges a particularly close swing from a grinder.

He never thought he'd miss going out and putting his life in danger, but he's feeling restless and useless. He can see how the other Rangers are spreading out to tackle more Grinders at a time to make up for the lack of two comrades and has to wonder how Scott, Summer, and Flynn managed to hold up before the rest of them donned the Ranger outfits.

Luckily it's just a few waves of foot soldiers today and the team manages to clear them out without any mishaps. They split up after, K sending them to check out various sectors and determine how Venjex infiltrated the city this time. Now she does kick Dillon and Ziggy out of the lab, putting on a cross face and closing the doors after they leave.

"Okay there?" asks Dillon as they migrate towards the kitchen. His voice is all nonchalance, but the tight set of his shoulders sings a different tune.

"Fine," replies Ziggy automatically and then surprises himself by adding, "Tired."

Dillon raises his eyebrows. "Want me to tuck you in and read you a bedtime story?"

"Yes, thanks, and I'll take some milk and cookies while you're at it."

"Sorry, we save those for the good kids. Ones that don't beat their elders at pool."

"Alright, grandpa. I'll be expecting treats when I lose from now on." He's bickering on autopilot, taking a seat at the island and splaying his upper body across the counter dramatically.

Dillon swipes one of his hands aside and sets a glass of apple juice in its place, which Ziggy reaches for greedily. "Honestly though, Zig," he says after a taking a swig of his own drink. "Do you need to lie down?"

Sighing, Ziggy assesses his body. He doesn't feel sleepy, exactly, just weary, like he's been working hard at something all day without pause. Which is silly, since the most exerting thing he's done so far is play a few games of pool. He feels sort of… empty. Incomplete. "Nah, just…"

He gets up, walking around the island to stand on the other side, directly next to Dillon. The feeling doesn't disappear, but it does begin to lessen and he closes his eyes, breathing deep.

"Ziggy?"

"Hmm? Oh, sorry. Spacing." The Ranger can feel Dillon's eyes on him, but he doesn't look over. "Just, proximity, you know? It makes a difference."

They stay that way for a bit, both gulping at their juice until the glasses are empty and Ziggy's feeling marginally better. Then Dillon says, "Want to get out of here for a while?"

.

It's a horrible feeling, really, knowing that he and Dillon are lounging around under a bright blue fake sky while the other five rangers are risking their lives to protect the city. Ziggy is all set to spend the next couple hours lamenting over his setback, but Dillon seems all too aware of this plan and the Black Ranger practically tackles him when the exit the car. The ensuing tussle lasts a good half hour, Ziggy finding inventive ways to make up for his obvious dearth in size and strength. They've stopped at a rarely used warehouse on the south side of the city. Stacked around the room are oddly shaped crates and containers that Ziggy uses as stairs to jump onto Dillon's back when the man gets near.

Spinning them around in a half-hearted attempt to dislodge his new urchin, Dillon gets them back outside into the sun and falls into the soft blades of green, rolling a laughing Ziggy underneath him.

"Oof," gasps Ziggy between snickers. "Get off me, terminator. You're heavier than a dead grinder."

Dillon does get up, but only to turn himself around. Looming back over the Green Ranger, Dillon cages him in with an immovable arm on either side of Ziggy's head and Ziggy smiles widely as floppy hair curves down to frame his stupidly handsome face.

"What's so funny, Green?"

"You're the least intimidating terminator I've ever met."

"Met a lot of us, have you?"

"Tons. The others were much more threatening."

"That so?" responds Dillon, sitting back on his legs and crossing his arms in mock insult. The movement reveals the blinding sun that Dillon's body had been conveniently blocking and Ziggy winces, throwing an arm over his eyes.

"Aha! Well, well, well," says Dillon in a childish voice that Ziggy is positive he has never used around the other rangers. "It seems we've come to an impasse. You need me to shield you from the sun and I need you to boost my ego. Want to change your opinion?"

Peeking from beneath his forearm, Ziggy gets a glimpse of Dillon's smug face and announces, "Never."

There's one quick flash of relief from the sun as Dillon leans forward and Ziggy pounces, getting his legs wrapped around the Black Ranger in a futile attempt to hold him in place. He's unsuccessful, of course, and Ziggy is left with only his eyelids to block the light, his legs propped uselessly over Dillon's thighs and his wrists caught in the man's tight grip. "C'mon. Just one little apology."

"I will stand firm," Ziggy says, though he lets his voice waver and squeezes his eyes dramatically.

A beat, and then Dillon says thoughtfully, "Shouldn't I get a bonus?"

"Bonus for what?"

"For being _your_ terminator."

It's not an atypical response for one of their bickering contests (flirting as Flynn calls it, but Ziggy isn't thinking about that right now, nope, definitely not), but it hits the Green Ranger differently anyway, a dozen strange emotions flashing through him at once. The moment stretches awkwardly until Ziggy remembers it was his turn to talk. Thrown off his game, he replies with a vague, "Yeah, okay," and has to suppress a wince at the breathiness of his voice. "You win."

Dillon's back to leaning over him, which means Ziggy could plausibly open his eyes now. Only that feels like a dangerous move, so he keeps them shut, turning his face into the spongy bed of grass.

"Ziggy? You alright?" questions the Black Ranger, teasing gone from his voice.

And maybe it's cowardly to hide behind his affliction, but Ziggy answers, "A nap would be nice." Besides, now that he's come down from the buzz of activity, Ziggy realizes that he's actually pretty exhausted. "If you could stay just like that for the next hour or so…"

The joke does what he wants, dispelling the odd tension and getting Dillon to scoff and plop down beside him. Rolling onto his stomach and jabbing the other man with a knuckle, Ziggy says, "Don't go thinking that was a win, Black. These competitions are clearly uneven, what with my brain being jumbled by some stupid attack-bot."

"More so than usual, you mean?"

Dropping his head, Ziggy sighs. "I deserved that."

"Walked right into it," agrees Dillon.

"I think I'll be needing that nap now."

"Don't worry, I'll be watching out in case any of your numerous terminator pals drop in."

Settling in, Ziggy tells him drowsily, "Don't feel like less of a man if they scare you. Like I said, much more intimidating."

"Go to sleep, Green."

Ziggy does.

.

.

.

_I feel like Dillon is only ever his fullest, goofiest self when he is around Ziggy. I bet he's secretly such an immature dork. _

_Thanks for the reviews so far! They are all super sweet._


	5. Chapter 5

It's clearly a good nap and Ziggy is all bright eyes and easy smiles on the way back to the garage. Dillon is pretty sure the sun has nothing on Ziggy Grover when he's in a good mood.

Unfortunately, the mood breaks when they arrive home to find that Scott has been injured in battle. All that Dillon had worked so hard to drive from Ziggy's mind is brought right back to the forefront at the sight of their leader being helped to the couch by the Blue and Gold Rangers, his ankle wrapped in a purple bandage.

"It's just a sprain," Scott tells them as Dillon and Ziggy rush over. "No big deal."

They've all had their fair share of sprained and twisted limbs, but that doesn't mean they aren't painful and Dillon grimaces in sympathy.

So begins a few days worth of Scott being cooped up at the base, under orders to keep off his foot until it stops swelling, and Ziggy getting noticeably less energetic by the hour. He and Scott race go-carts endlessly on the Nintendo, griping back and forth about which of them is the bigger cripple at the moment. Summer rolls her eyes at their antics, but checks on them often anyway, belying her annoyance.

Scott's been winning today since Ziggy keeps nodding off between games and making Dillon's stomach clench with worry. K has been working round the clock to try and determine what's causing Ziggy's deteriorating stamina, but to no avail as of yet.

From the other side of the garage, Dillon notices the boy has been slowly edging closer to the Red Ranger as they play and he recalls Ziggy mentioning how proximity helped. He's probably doing it unconsciously, his body trying to get at the energy it craves without Ziggy even being aware.

Still, Dillon feels oddly resentful at the sight of Ziggy scooched up in someone else's space, so he takes a break from buffing his car and heads over to the television. He collects a sour looking Gem as he does, if only to give the Ranger something to do other than glare as his sister and Flynn as they giggle madly over some new invention.

"Got room for two more?" he says, filching Ziggy's controller and immediately driving his character off a cliff.

"Hey!" shouts Ziggy, grappling with him. "Not cool dude. I just made it out of last place!"

Scott snickers gleefully as he crosses the finish line in first and begins to set up the game for four players while Ziggy and Dillon wrestle over green controller. The Red and Black Rangers share a look of concern when Ziggy quickly tires of the fight, pressing a hand to his chest and flopping unhappily onto his back, head thunking against the floor.

"Guess I'm just losing everything today."

Wishing there were grinders nearby to dispel his sudden flash of helplessness and aggression, Dillon instead grabs Ziggy by the belt roughly and slides him closer. Allowing the movement, Ziggy lifts his head slightly to lean against Dillon's thigh and says, "I think I'll just watch for a while."

It takes a few games, but Ziggy does seem to be feeling better and he joins in again, laughing delightedly when they discover he's actually a better player than Dillon, who can't seem grasp the concept of turning his car _gently_. Gem's the clear winner though, despite the fact that he's too busy shooting dark looks over his shoulder to give it his full attention.

"Flynn's really not a bad guy," says Scott casually after a few rounds and Gem freezes, caught red-handed glaring at the Blue Ranger. His expression turns sullen, but he respects Scott too much not to listen. "And you know she'll always love you best."

Dillon and Ziggy watch, amused, as the Red Ranger doles out further advice for Gem on how to handle his sister's budding romance. Eventually, Scott encourages Gem to spend some time with both of them and Gem sets down his controller and wanders over to their table hesitantly.

Silence reigns as Dillon works at keeping his mouth shut, until Ziggy breaks it instead. "Oh great love guru! I humbly request your sage counsel. How do I land a lady like Gemma?"

Dillon snickers into his hand, but Scott just smiles slyly, eyeing how the two of them are positioned, with Dillon on the couch and Ziggy on the floor, nestled snugly between the Black Ranger's legs. "Well, my first piece of advice would be to stop flirting with your boyfriend. Hard to get a date when they think you're taken."

It's clear that the Red Ranger is feeling pretty smug about this rib, so Dillon feels the need to up the ante and ruffles a hand through Ziggy's unruly hair.

"You hear that, babe? He wants us to break up."

Without missing a beat, without even looking over, Ziggy replies, "He's just jealous of our love, sugarplum."

"Oh no," groans Scott.

"Why can't people understand this is an 'open door' relationship?"

"They just can't imagine that I'd ever want to share you."

"Please stop."

They're gathering an audience now, the clanking of Gemma and Flynn come to a halt as they turn their attention to the couch. It's almost impossible not to start grinning like a madman at the look of absolute horror on the Red Ranger's face, but Dillon manages, instead pasting on a look of confused offense. "Why _do_ you share me, darlin'?"

"Why do _you_ share _me_, biscuit?"

"This isn't fair!" exclaims Scott, glaring spitefully at his bandaged ankle. "I can't even get away!"

"Because our love is too big," declares Dillon, drawing from a soap opera he once caught Flynn watching. Anything to keep Scott squirming, even if he does feel foolish.

Following his cue, as he can always count on Ziggy to do, Ziggy fires back with, "There's no such thing! Cupcake, we were made for each other!"

At this point, Flynn is in hysterics and Scott appears desperate. Seeing that he won't get any help from the Blue Ranger, Scott reaches his arms towards the kitchen where Summer is washing dishes, her chore of the week, and watching the spectacle with raised eyebrows. "Summer, save me!"

"You did start this," Summer tells him primly as Dillon proclaims, "Marry me, oh precious treasure of my heart!"

Ziggy lets slip a bark of laughter at that, but manages to say, "My sweetest babycakes, I would love nothing more!"

And then they're hugging dramatically and Ziggy is fake sobbing and Flynn is actually sobbing through his giggles and Scott is burying his head in his hands, moaning, "What have I done, what have I done…"

Then, through the din comes a high pitched voice asking, "Why do all of Series Green's pet names have to do with food?"

_Everyone_ loses it, Dillon clutching at his curly haired friend and gasping with laughter while Scott rolls on the couch, kicking his feet in the air wildly. Dr. K is left standing at the edge of the island, holding an empty mug and looking extremely nonplussed as her Power Rangers fall all over themselves, laughing uncontrollably.

If anyone asked, the Black Ranger would call the night a success all-around.

.

Several hours later has Dillon waking with a jolt to a familiar voice chanting, "Ow, ow, ow." He opens his eyes to find Ziggy swaying slightly while holding his right calf in both hands.

"Zig? What are you doing?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Ziggy says, setting the limb down tentatively. He sounds exhausted. "I c-couldn't stay away. I needed… I don't know what, but I'm sorry. For waking you." Ziggy glances down at him and Dillon can read the confusion and frustration on his face.

"It's acting up again," Dillon says and it's not a question. "I thought we tested how far the connection could be and it was safe for you to stay in your room? Were the tests wrong?"

Shaking his head, Ziggy says, "I don't know. I stayed in there as long as I could, but I couldn't hardly breathe and I'm so tired…" He breaks off, looking miserable.

"Is this-" Dillon motions awkwardly between them, "-helping?"

"It is, yeah. Sorry again. That I'm disturbing your sleep."

Dillon snorts dismissively and sits up, leaning against the wall and patting the spot next to him. Ziggy accepts the gesture, scrambling immediately onto the bed and situating himself close to the Black Ranger. He chatters about inane topics for close to ten minutes before starting to nod off, dipping sideways.

Dillon starts when a mess of curly hair lands on his shoulder, having been lulled by the soft voice of the other boy. He debates what to do now, but he's too tired to get up and he can't leave Ziggy alone anyway. As carefully as possible, Dillon shifts them around until they're both lying on the pillows, grateful for the queen sized bed. Sleep comes swiftly.

.

.

.

_Word does not recognize the word 'scooch'. Why is this. _

_Coming up: More sleeping and then after that there is a bit more sleeping. Very exciting stuff. Be warned._


	6. Chapter 6

_I dunno, guys. I think I'm gonna go ahead and slap the "slash" warning on this story now. If you're paying attention, it might be hard to ignore at this point. Still could be read platonically, but I don't want to make anybody uncomfortable._

.

Ziggy wakes up the next morning feeling better than he has in days. He's stretching wildly when his elbow bumps something squishy and a gruff voice says, "Oh good. You're awake."

Startled, Ziggy retracts his limbs hastily and rolls over to come face to face with a bored looking Dillon working on a crossword. Working on a crossword in bed. With Ziggy. This has got to be the weirdest start to a day since Ziggy first became a ranger.

"Oh," he says, stupidly. "You could have woken me up."

"Yeah, I'll cut short the sleep of the energy-afflicted guy. Good plan."

"It's too early for sarcasm."

Dillon eyes him dryly. "It's noon."

Noon? Dillon must have been lying here for ages waiting for Ziggy to wake up. "Alright, wise guy. If I'm so afflicted, I assume I don't have to cook my own breakfast."

.

In fact, no one cooks breakfast. Summer invites him out for 'brunch', acting suspiciously gung-ho about it, but Ziggy is so hungry he doesn't complain. When they get back, Ziggy is feeling slightly worn out and climbs upstairs, hoping vaguely that Dillon might be in his room so the Green Ranger can collapse on his mattress for a while. However, when he passes his own quarters he realizes that it is lacking something rather obvious: his bed is missing.

"Hey guys?" he shouts, hearing voices next door. "Where's my bed?"

"About that," says Flynn, appearing in the hallway. "There's been a bit of a rearranging."

"Rearranging?"

"Don't look at it as losing a room, look at it as… gaining a roommate!"

Scott joins them, exiting Dillon's quarters and steering Flynn away by the shoulders. "C'mon Flynn, let's leave the lovebirds in peace."

"Lovebirds?" squawks Ziggy, heading through the door Scott left open. "Dillon, are you hearing this?"

He notices Dillon first, lounging in his socks and flipping through a box of CD's. Then, of course, he sees the newest addition to the room. Pushed up against the opposite wall and taking up most of the remaining floor space is Ziggy's own bed.

"Huh. And here I thought I had misplaced it." Ziggy crosses his arms and leans against the doorway. "It isn't nice to steal other people's sleeping areas you know. Is this why Summer was so keen to get me out of the garage?"

"Might have been," says Dillon, not even looking up. Well, that's just a bit rude. Ziggy opens his mouth to complain, but Dillon cuts him off. "Don't bother. This is non-negotiable. Get used to it."

"Who said anything about complaining," says Ziggy, switching tactics. "I was only going to point out that I'm not as easy as you think, buddy. We may have moved in together, but I expect dinner, a movie, and some very expensive gifts before this goes any further."

Dillon's mouth twitches, a sure sign he's amused. "And you wonder why Scott and Flynn make so many jokes."

Just as Ziggy's starting to protest (because _he_ wasn't the one carrying Dillon around bridal style and _he _didn't start the whole 'our love is too big' debacle last night), he breaks off into a cough, a reminder of how tired he is feeling. Dillon ushers him into the room and tucks him into bed; Ziggy too tired to protest that he isn't a child. He dozes, half aware of soft piano music playing in the background, until he finally feels rested enough to sit up again. Dillon is back on his own bed, messing with his music box, but he puts it away when he catches sight of Ziggy.

"It's getting worse, isn't it," the Black Ranger says and it isn't a question. Sighing, Ziggy picks at the strings on his sheet and nods.

"We're going to fix this, Ziggy."

It's silly, but Ziggy feels infinitely better just hearing Dillon speak the words so confidently and he replies, "I know."

.

Ziggy forces himself to get up for a while after that, if only to give Dillon an opportunity to leave the room. Flynn abandons the new invention he had been tinkering with and reveals a bad horror movie he rented earlier. Popcorn is provided by Summer and Ziggy curls up on the couch feeling content as they watch stupid teenagers get torn apart by chainsaw-wielding mad men. After the credits roll, Ziggy spends a few moments being proud that he only nodded off a couple times and then spends a few more moments disturbed for being proud of something so ridiculous.

K emerges from her cave once to make some more coffee and watch ten minutes of the movie, long enough for the sluttiest character to fall prey to the business end of a machete. Then she's right back into the lab, waving off Summer's concern that she's overworking herself. Ziggy is feeling strangely shy about her obvious drive to find out how to fix him, torn between burdensome and endlessly grateful.

He manages several more hours of handing fruit to Flynn as he concocts new smoothie flavors, handing what look to be dangerous chemicals to Gem and Gemma as they create something that will likely go 'boom', and handing tools to Dillon as he works on his car. Then he's completely shot, regardless of the fact that none of those activities were strenuous.

He's in the process of looking for the energy to drag himself over to the sofa when his eyelids droop and he falls asleep against the tire of Dillon's car. A slight jostling wakes him for a moment, enough to realize that Dillon is carrying him _again_, but Ziggy is back under by the time Dillon deposits him gently in bed.

.

The Green Ranger has no sense of self-preservation. Dillon berates himself for getting caught up in the underbelly of his car and not noticing just how fatigued Ziggy had become. Still, the boy should have said something, instead of 'manfully' trying to resist the tug of exhaustion.

Dillon glances over at the slumbering body now occupying his room. He gets that Ziggy feels like a burden, but Dillon finds that he isn't bothered by keeping Ziggy around all the time. The boy has been a wild card since day one, worming his way under Dillon's skin and settling there like he belongs. Dillon might play at being aloof, but he'd cut off his own arm before he'd let anything happen to those he cared about. And Ziggy is right at the top of the list.

A throaty cough catches his attention. Ziggy is shivering, bed sheets vibrating with the movement and Dillon is across the room and slipping under the covers before he even makes the conscious decision to act.

"Hmm, wha?" Ziggy slurs around another cough, blinking blearily at Dillon.

Wrapping Ziggy up, Dillon pulls closer and hushes him. "Go back to sleep," he says, even as he's panicking. Not only is the rate of energy loss is increasing, but it seems that Dillon has to be closer to make much of a difference. This is bad and getting worse.

Luckily, Ziggy's discomfort lessens noticeably after a few moments and he tangles his fingers into Dillon's tank top and burrows closer.

"Mm, thanks." There's soft breath on his collarbone and Dillon raises his eyes and swallows. Thinks of attack bots and Scott's stupid hair and K's two hour long lecture on hygiene. He doesn't sleep.

.

.

.

_I think I need to watch this series again. I recently put on the LOTR trilogy and informed everyone in the room what little Frieda in the second movie grew up to act in. Oh Dr. K, how I love thee. Of course, I got a lot of 'wtf, power rangers, really?', but that's kinda par for the course._

_Possibly the ending to this is going to be unnecessarily dramatic. Not positive yet._


	7. Chapter 7

Ziggy's playing pool with Scott when Dillon hears him start coughing again. It's only a bit at first, but soon they turn into harsh spasms, wracking his body and causing Ziggy to drop his pool stick. The cue clatters to the floor and Dillon whips his head around to see Ziggy waving off Scott with one hand and using the other to muffle his coughs.

"It's fine, I'm okay. Just tired. I'm going to rest a bit," he says, stepping towards the couch. The boy thinks he's managing to hide that the distance he can be from another ranger to get some relief has all but disappeared, but Dillon isn't fooled. Ziggy is barely holding it together and he hasn't been five feet from Scott in the past half-hour.

Ziggy pauses when he sees Dillon staring at him and then awkwardly makes to sit on the opposite end, shaking slightly. Rolling his eyes, Dillon lifts an arm and says, "C'mere."

Looking extremely grateful, Ziggy doesn't waste any time crawling into his side. "Sorry about this," Ziggy mumbles, pressing his face into Dillon's shirt and sighing deeply as his trembling subsides. Dillon doesn't reply, just curls his arm protectively around the boy and lets his thoughts turn to all the ways he will torture Venjex if he ever gets the chance.

.

Three hours later and Dillon is _starving_. He hasn't eaten since breakfast and Ziggy is fast asleep, curled up like a cat at his side. Even worse, he needs a bathroom break like mad. Once the others had realized Ziggy was out, they had mostly cleared the garage, not wanting to wake him. An unnecessary action, as Dillon is pretty sure a steamroller wouldn't wake Ziggy up right now. The slow rise and fall of the Green Ranger's chest tells Dillon that he's deep under, which makes it unlikely he'll be waking before Dillon dies of hunger or explodes.

Thankfully, Dillon soon catches sight of Flynn slipping down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Hey. Blue." Even knowing Ziggy won't wake, Dillon can't help but try and keep his voice low. "Little help?"

"What?" replies Flynn, in the same hushed tone. "Your little angel drooling on your favorite leather jacket?"

Gracing him with a withering glare, Dillon says, "I need someone to look after him while I take care of a few much needed bodily functions."

Setting a cup of apple juice down on the end table, Flynn says easily, "Alright, hand him over."

He helps Dillon gently untangle Ziggy until the Black Ranger can slip off the couch. Maneuvering carefully, Flynn situates himself in the spot Dillon left, easing the snoring Ziggy back down.

Moving quickly, Dillon hits the bathroom then the kitchen, silencing his growling stomach. After wolfing down some lunch, he heads back to the sofa, intent on switching back from Flynn. The Blue Ranger has his eyes closed and he looks to be dozing peacefully along with Ziggy, but he opens them as Dillon approaches. "Ah, good. Bring me my iPod, will you?"

"I can take it from here—"

"Dillon. You sit with him for hours on end without ever asking for help. We care about him too." Flynn sounds serious. "Take a break, get some fresh air. I promise not to leave him alone."

It's a bit alarming how uneasy Dillon is about letting Ziggy out of his sight, but he sees the wisdom in Flynn's words and he _is_ getting a bit stir crazy sitting around all the time. Nodding his assent, Dillon reaches out to finger a black curl briefly, unable to resist the urge.

Ignoring the shrewd look Flynn is giving him, Dillon turns and makes a beeline to his car, grinning when he hears a flustered whisper of, "Oi! iPod first!"

.

The most exciting part of Ziggy's life lately has been finding out where he is when he wakes up. Dillon's bed, the shower(though he woke up pretty quick when Dillon banged on the door to make sure he was still alive), K's lab while Scott was giving a lecture on safety protocols, Dillon's car, the kitchen table, Dillon…

It's a new place today, he can tell that right off. If it was still Dillon he was lying on, Ziggy might have considered just burrowing closer and passing out again. As it is, he decides to use this moment for some much-deserved payback.

Keeping his eyes closed, Ziggy tightens his grip on the stocky chest of his pillow and gives a little groan. He can feel the other person tense up and does it again while sliding his arm down to curl around their waist, thumb brushing bare skin at the midriff. He can practically taste the Ranger's panic and has to swallow his laughter so he can deliver the final blow.

Pitching his voice as husky as possible, Ziggy moans, "…Flynn…"

If he thought his couch-mate was tense before, it's nothing to how their body seizes up at that one word. "Um," squeaks a Scottish voice, accompanied by an awkward poke. "Ziggy. C'mon, man, wake up."

No longer able to contain his glee, Ziggy busts out laughing, tilting his head up to grin madly at the Blue Ranger. Flynn's jaw drops and he goggles for a moment before bringing an arm up to cover his eyes. "You _brat_."

There are tears at the corners of Ziggy's eyes as he continues to chortle. "That expression was priceless!"

"And here I thought the awkward moment was going to come from you thinking I was Dillon when you woke up."

"Nah, you don't smell like him."

A loaded pause. "There are so many responses I want to make to that."

"But you're not going to!" sings Ziggy cheerily, crossing his arms across the other Ranger's chest and resting his chin on them. "Because you don't want me to let everyone know how badly you just got owned."

Flynn sighs dramatically. "Alright, get off me you evil little imp. I need a shower—I feel dirty."

.

It becomes alarmingly apparent that Ziggy can hardly function anymore without needing to rest for hours afterwards. Also, and Ziggy is trying his damndest to keep this fact to himself, he has to be right up and personal with another ranger to feel any sort of relief. It's not that he thinks the others would begrudge him the contact; it's just that he knows they would never leave him alone. If Scott caught wind that Ziggy practically required skin contact to keep the energy-sucking effects at bay, he'd have a whole spreadsheet worked out delegating who had to hold Ziggy's hand and when. The thought is horrifying.

And, though Ziggy is doing a pretty decent job of not examining it too closely, he doesn't want anything to ruin the sleep routine he and Dillon have silently worked out. Ziggy gets tired, starts to cough, and Dillon immediately steers him towards their room, shoves him under the covers, and climbs in behind, curling close. Ziggy knows Dillon's only doing it because it calms the Green Ranger almost instantly, but, and this is where Ziggy usually stops his probing, he likes having Dillon pressed up against him. He likes the steady comfort of the other man's breathing, likes when Dillon hums his lullaby or brushes his thumb across Ziggy's skin unconsciously, likes feeling cared for. Special. _Wanted_.

So, okay, it sucks that he's only awake for about eight hours a day (a number that is dwindling fast), and, yeah, Flynn keeps winking at him whenever Dillon leads them off to bed. Yesterday Ziggy even caught Scott miming a lewd kissing motion at Dillon after Ziggy had walked up to the Black Ranger and dropped his head wearily on the man's chest. But at least there's a bright side to the whole debacle.

The positives end there.

Ziggy rarely feels fully conscious. There are no more pool or video games, no more going out for lunch. Ziggy is lucky if he can keep his eyes open long enough to finish a meal. The other rangers keep him occupied with a constant reel of movies while having hushed conversations with K, but Ziggy dozes off too often to follow the plots. The teasing and ribs cut back until all anyone can offer the Green Ranger is worry and concern.

It would drive him nuts if he weren't so out of it.

As it is, well… Ziggy is just terrified that the next time he shuts his eyes, they'll stay that way.

.

Ziggy has been asleep for 21 straight hours when Dillon finally snaps and marches into K's lab, ignoring her request to be undisturbed.

"Tell me you have something Doc," he says, hoping he doesn't sound as desperate as he feels.

K continues typing away furiously on her computer even as she glances up to glare at him. "Shouldn't you be with Series Ranger Green?"

Dark rings hang under K's eyes and Dillon softens his tone. "Flynn's sitting with him. Ziggy is almost catatonic. We have to do something."

"I understand the severity of the situation Series Black, which is why I don't have time to be having this pointless conversation. Don't you think I would tell you if I found…" She trails off, staring wide-eyed at her computer screen.

"What?" Dillon snaps, moving forward quickly.

K ignores him, muttering to herself. "Could that be it? Why didn't I notice it before, unless… Yes, that makes sense." She swivels to face a different monitor, punching keys to fast for Dillon to comprehend. "I've got it! Get the others, quick!"

Dillon sticks his head out of the lab and shouts for the rangers. Everyone but Flynn and Ziggy rush in, Scott saying briskly, "What have we got?"

"You say you took out the attack-bot that did this to Series Green, correct?"

Gem and Gemma perk up. "Yeah, he went KA-"

"-BOOM into little pieces!"

"Little pieces, exactly!" K says, sounding excited. "We couldn't have known because all of our scans indicated the Bot was completely destroyed, but some part of its functioning is still intact."

"How is that possible?" says Scott, upset. "The scans would have caught it."

"They did, but not until just now. The part of the bot that survived didn't have enough of an energy reading to show up originally, but it has been feeding off of Ranger Green all of this time until it finally stole enough from him to be sensed by the scanners. I believe if you can go to the coordinates listed here," she points at her monitor, "and destroy the part that survived, Ranger Green's energy should be restored."

"Just like that?" Dillon asks urgently.

"It may be best if you take Ranger Green with you. I don't know for sure, but the proximity will probably help."

Dillon is already at the door and heading for Ziggy when Scott shouts, "Alright Rangers, let's move out!"

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_Flynn! Flynn, come be friends with me. You're awesome._


	8. Chapter 8

The car is bumpy and uncomfortable and Ziggy is so, so tired. His head keeps lolling onto the window as they fly through the city towards the energy reading K had picked up. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Ziggy gets that it's important they find this source, but all he wants to do right now is curl up in a dark, quiet, motionless place and fall asleep. Preferably with Dillon somewhere nearby.

They stop finally and Dillon is instantly out of the car and opening Ziggy's door, coaxing the sleepy ranger into getting out. Ziggy manages to stand up, but it's a close thing and he sways dangerously, limbs and eyelids heavier than any dumbbells Scott had ever given him to train. Dillon catches him by the arms and Ziggy says, "I can't, Dillon, I can't. I'm so tired, please…"

Arms wrap around him and this isn't just to hold him up, this is an honest-to-god hug. "Shh, shh. We're going to fix it right now, okay? Just be strong for a few more minutes."

He's not sure he can, but this is Dillon asking so Ziggy nods and gathers what little energy he has left.

"Okay," says Scott, dutifully ignoring the display of affection. "Spread out and start looking for anything suspicious. K thinks that Ziggy will feel instantly drained if he comes near it, so unfortunately that makes you our compass."

"Yeah, yeah. So if I feel worse, that's a good sign?"

"It just means we're getting closer to restoring you to your regular, hyper self."

"Gotcha. May I suggest searching to the right, then? I almost passed out when Dillon drove past that area to park."

Unsurprisingly, Ziggy does pass out when they finally find the stupid, energy-sucking device. It was half-buried in the dirt and glowing a faint green color upon closer inspection. It had probably been meant for allowing the attack-bot to regenerate by stealing power from the rangers, but was mostly a failure since it took so long to suck the energy from its victims.

Summer spots it, saying, "Hey, this looks pretty weird. What do you think, Ziggy?" and holding it up to the Green Ranger who promptly collapses onto Flynn and Dillon, his own personal crutches.

Ziggy only has secondhand knowledge of the events that follow. Summer inspects the device, Dillon throws it on the ground and bashes it open with his fist, and weird, glowy stuff happens that everyone assumes was Ziggy's energy returning to its rightful owner. Then, and Ziggy isn't sure whether to believe this or not, Ziggy allegedly regains consciousness just long enough to say, "That was better than sex," before falling into a dead sleep for nearly eight hours.

When he does finally wake up, for real this time, it's to find himself snuggled up in Dillon's room, his green sheets tangled around his legs. And then, suddenly, Ziggy has the unstoppable urge to _move. _The feeling is so foreign after weeks of barely managing to stand for more than ten minutes that Ziggy starts laughing as he flings the covers off, bounding out of bed and down the stairs.

"Ziggy!" shouts Gem and suddenly there are four or five people rushing forward to tackle him in excitement. Ziggy hugs back just as hard.

"How are you feeling?"

"Can we get you anything?"

"Fine," he laughs, but he can't stand still, has to keep moving. "Brilliant! I have to do- have to do something though. Anything. Train! I'm going to train."

Looking slightly stunned, Scott smiles. "I'll come with you."

"Flynn and I will make you a sandwich!" exclaims Gemma, making it sound like the most exciting thing she's ever contemplated doing and Ziggy replies enthusiastically, "Perfect, that would be perfect," as he kisses her on the cheek and turns towards the gym. He can't be bothered to care about the astonished stares he's getting from the other rangers.

He's moving blindly, so hyper he can barely concentrate, and doesn't even see K before running into her.

"Ranger Green. Glad to see you're well enough to be trampling people," she says crossly. Ignoring her feigned anger, Ziggy swoops forward to pick her up and twirl around once, breathless and happy. "I know! Isn't it fantastic?" he whoops and shoots off, into the training area, followed closely by an amused Scott.

Ziggy has no idea how many reps he does. He hits almost all of the weightlifting stations, completes dozens of sit-ups, and actually lets Scott coach him on proper push-ups before he declares, "Running. I'm going to go running!" This is a big deal, since Ziggy hasn't been running for sport since he was a child. Most of his recent running was always in an attempt to get away from something.

Gemma waylays him as he passes the kitchen and hands him a masterpiece of a sandwich that he proceeds to gulp down in two minutes flat, followed by three bottles of water. Then he's rushing into the sunshine, heedless of Summer's warnings to let his food settle.

He's on his eighth lap around the building when Dillon rolls up in his baby. Ziggy waves spastically, approaching the car at a jog. When he finally stops, it's to realize that Summer was probably right about the whole 'waiting a few moments to digest' thing.

"Feeling better then?" Dillon smirks, looking suspiciously sweaty, though Ziggy's in no place to say anything.

"Actually, I think I may throw up now. Just a moment."

He does not, in fact, throw up, but it's a near thing. Eventually he turns back to Dillon, panting, damp, and deliriously happy, and says, "I just did more exercise in the last two hours than I have in a month. Where have you been?"

Dillon drums his hand against the door and Ziggy realizes it looks bruised. "Went for a ride."

Ziggy raises his eyebrows. "I see that."

"Punched some things."

"Ah. Yes. A hobby of yours, is it?"

"More like a stress reliever."

"And are you de-stressed now?"

Dillon looks at him in a way that can only be described as a once-over, eyes as dark as his Ranger suit, and says, "Yeah. I think so."

Throat mysteriously dry, Ziggy swallows a couple times until Dillon stops staring and quirks him a grin. "Want to go for a ride?"

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_Hi! I'm considering putting stories up on AO3 as well. Anyone here have an account at Archive of Our Own? _

_Anyway, still haven't decided on a suitable ending, so this might have to do for now._

_Also, I'm enjoying the fuck out of winter break. Hope you guys are too!_


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